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(NoModeL) 2 Sheets-She,et 1. E. M. COO-K.

APPARATUS FOR DRYING OR OTHERWISE TREATING MATERIALS. No. 408,217. Patented Aug. 6, 1889..

(No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E. M. 000K.

APPARATUS FOR DRYING OR OTHERWISE TREATINGMATERIALS, No. 408,217. Patented Aug. 6, 18 89.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OF ICE.

EDWVARD M. COOK, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR DRYING OR OTHERWISE TREATING MATERIALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 408,217, dated August 6, 1889. Application filed September 10, 1888. Serial No. 284,982- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD M. COOK, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Drying or Otherwise.

Treating Materials, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The object of this invention is to furnish a cheap and convenient construction for exposing materials to a current of air, steam, or gas, either for the purpose of drying such materials or for treating them with gas or vapor.

The invention is particularly adapted for the drying of wet granular material, as the material in my invention is frequently shifted from one receptacle to another, and is thus disintegrated and different parts of its substance are exposed to the treating-currents without raking or stirring the material. Heretofore the floors, stages, or receptacles employed in such drying-machines have been connected together in separate series, some of which could be dumped independently,

while the receptacles in the adjacent series below it were held in position to receive the filling material; but in my invention the receptacles are formed with chambers or troughs upon different sides thereof, so that all the receptacles in the entire apparatus may be connected together and dumped simultaneously, the chamber or trough being, when turned over to discharge its contents, thus immediately replaced by another one formed adjacent to it upon the same pivot.

The invention consists in several sets or series of receptacles which are divided by longitudinal partitions to form troughs or chambers, and thus adapting the receptacle for filling in more than one position. The construction for each receptacle amounts practically to the formation of a number of troughs around the same axis, so that they may be presented in succession at the upper side to be filled. The discharge of the material from each trough when filled may thus be accomplished by oscillating the receptacle through a given are or intermittently rot-ating it continuously in the same direction through the same are.

In the construction shown herein the receptacles are of cruciform section, formingfour open troughs with right-angle bottom, so that a rotation of ninety degrees suffices to bring a new trough or filling-chamber to the top and to turn the one previously filled into a position where the lower side thereof will slope at an angle of forty-five degrees to freely discharge the material therefrom. The receptacles are preferably arranged in horizontal tiers, and the invention includes means for rotating the receptacles intermittently to dump the contents of each series of receptacles into the series next below, and so successively until the material is discharged from the lowest series. The receptacles in each horizontal tier are preferably alternated with those above and below it to bring the troughs in each tier partly into line with the sloping side of the trough in the tier above as the latter is rotated. By this construction the material is thrown a little sidewise in its descent from one tier to another, and all the receptacles are preferably oscillated alternately in opposite directions, so that the material may be distributed alternately into the receptacles upon its opposite sides in the tier below. The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2, a plan, of an apparatus embodying my invention. Fig. 3 is a Vertical section on line :10 0c in Fig. 2. Fig. i is an end view of the same apparatus; and Fig. 5 represents in vertical section a taller construction, with flue attached to the top and a lateral door for filling the receptacles.

In Fig. 1, A represents a casing with walls adapted to sustain the receptacles, which are shown pivoted upon axles 13, extended through such walls. The top of the casing is shown provided with apertures 0, through which the material-is introduced to the upper tier of receptacles, and the bot1om of the casing is shown formed with sloping sides D to collect the material to a central chute for the convenient discharge of the same.

If preferred, the top of the apparatus may be in open communication with a draft tower or flue, and the material introduced at intervals through a door provided for such purpose in the side of such tower.

Flues E are shown connected with the side of the casing near the bottom to admit the currents of air, gas, or steam, and the latter may escape through the openings 0, or into a tower, as just described.

The receptacles are shown in five tiers, the axles of the receptacles in the second and fourth tiers being arranged vertically intermediate to those in the other tiers.

The construction shown for the'receptacles in Fig. 3 is of cruciform section, forming four similar gutters or troughs around a central axis, and is adapted for oscillating ninety degrees alternately in opposite directions, or for an intermittent rotation of ninety degrees continuously in the same direction.

The drawings show only means for oscillating the receptacles, in which case thelower partition or member of the receptacle operates only as a deflector, and the receptacles will be first described as if constructed to operate merely in such manner.

The receptacles are shown made of a wooden board 02, extended transversely to the casing, with a partition 0 projected at right angles to the middle of its width,and the opposite side of the board being provided with a similar partition 13, acting as a deflector. The receptacle is thus formed with two receiving troughs or chambers 0' and 0 upon the adjacent sides of the partition 0, and heads on are shown applied at the ends of the troughs to hold the material therein. The axis of the receptacle is formed at the intersection of the partitions with the board a, and the oscillation of the receptacle ninety degrees operates to bring the chambers 0 and 0 alternately upon the top to be filled.

The axles B upon one end of all the receptacles are provided with cranks F, which are all connected by a frame G, provided with pivot-holes fitted to receive all the cranks of the several tiers when turned in the same direction, and to shift all such cranks at once when any one of them is moved.

Handles H are applied to one or more of the axles, and the oscillation of such axle operates, through the frame G, to oscillate all the axles and receptacles simultaneously.

In Fig. 3 the partitions 0 are all shown tipped to the right, with the contents discharged from the chambers 0 and the chambers 0' sustained vertically above the axle and filled with the material to be dried or treated. In this figure the cranks would appear only in dotted lines, and are shown only upon the upper tier of receptacles, the cranks being projecting from the axles parallel with the partition, and being thus adapted, when moved ninety degrees from the position shown toward the left hand, to discharge the contents from the chambers 0 and to tip the chambers 0 up over the axles to be charged.

Arrows a are applied to the left side of the bottom boards a to show the direction in which the receptacles would be tipped to discharge the contents of the chamber 0', and

it is obvious that when thus tipped the contents of the upper tier of receptacles would be thrown into the chambers of the receptacles below, excepting at the alternate ends of the tiers, where the material would be discharged toward the end walls of the casing A. To prevent the material discharged at such end walls from falling to the bottom of the casing, deflectors are projected from the wall in the path of the material to throw the same into the chamber of the receptacle in the second tier below.

It will be noticed that in the position of the receptacles shown in Fig. 3 the deflectors p in one series are projected close to the partitions o in the series below it, while one edge of the bottom board 11 is in similar proximity to one edge of the board below it. Spaces are left between the several parts on all sides for a current of air, gas, or steam to circulate upward between the different receptacles, and one edge of the receptacle-bottom n operates, as well as the lower edge of the deflector p, to divert the current of air or steam toward the contents of the filled receptacle.

It is obvious that the cranks F may be connected by separate connecting-rods and actuated in any convenient manner to tip the receptacles and discharge the contents as desired; and it is also obvious that with a deflector upon the lower side of the receptacle the structure is cruciform and symmetrical, and may, instead of being oscillated, be rotated a part or the Whole of a revolution in the same direction at intervals, the four spaces around the central intersection of the bottom, the partition, and the deflector 19 serving in turn as chambers to receive a charge of the material.

In Fig. 3 the series or sets of'receptacles are shown arranged in regular horizontal tiers; but such arrangement is not essential to the operation of my invention, and my practical construction for the apparatus consists in a large number of series filling a tower of considerable height, whereby the material may be supplied at the top, and while exposed to the currents for treatment is, during a considerable length of time, in motion almost continuously while it is transferred from one receptacle to another.

The discharge of the material from one receptacle to another serves to disintegrate the particles and avoids the necessity of stirring or. raking the substance during treatment, while the overturning of the receptacles secures the mixing of the particles and the frequent exposure of fresh surfaces to the cur rent throughout the entire operation.

Fig. 5 shows a tower T, presenting a view similar to that in Fig. 4, with a door L hinged to an aperture in one side above a floor J, upon which a pile of material K is shown. The door is counterbalanced bya cord M and weight N. The material would in such case be placed in the upper series of receptacles by a workman operating through the door, and the door would then be closed until it was necessary to tip the receptacles and apply a fresh charge.

It is not material to my invention how the substance to be treated is supplied to the receptacles; but by placing forty, sixty, or one hundred of such series of dumping-receptacles above one another I effect a very great economy in a drying process, as the heated air may be traversed successively over the material until the air is fully saturated.

I am aware that sectional floors have been used in drying malt and other materials, and therefore do not claim any construction adapted to form a continuous floor or surface. Neither do I claim the mere arrangement of a series of receptacles alternately within a casing, as such series have been used in other inventions where the receptacle was provided with a single trough only and required restoration to its initial position to be filled after each discharge. WVith such a construction one tier of receptacles must necessarily beheld in their operative position while those above it are dumped, whereas in my construction, in which the receptacles are provided with twov or more troughs rotated around a common axis, one of such troughs is always moving in an operative position to be filled while another trough is being discharged, and the entire series of receptacles throughout the whole casin g may be connected together and rotated simultaneously. Such a modeof operation avoids the dumping of certain series in a certain order and the use of mechanism for oscillating the series separately, and thus adapts my construction for operation by the most unskilled labor.

My invention is distinguished from others which have been heretofore designed for the same purpose in that the receptacles may all be connected by cranks united in one system, and thus tilted simultaneously to discharge their contents.

The receptacles may be used without a casing in any climate where the air is hot enough to operate as a drying agent, the apparatus then serving merely to conveniently disintegrate the material and to expose all its particles in turn to the atmosphere.

The receptacles may be made of wood, metal, or other suitable material, and the bottoms may be made solid, perforated, or reticulated, as the nature of the material to be treated may require, without departing from my invention.

The lower portion of the casing will be unprovided with the receptacles, as in Fig. 5, that the material may be permit-ted to accumulate therein, if desired, and the agent for treating or drying the materials may be supplied by pipes within the casing, if preferred.

It will be perceived that by making the receptacles cruciform in cross-section they are perfectly balanced when empty, and that the different chambers formed around the supporting-axle may all be tilted with the same facility to discharge their contents as the filled trough or chamber is moved downward in the act of discharging, and thus facilitates the dumping operation, so that a large number of such receptacles, such as are shown in Fig. 5, may thus be readily oscillated or intermittently rotated with very little eifort on the part of the operator. Such facility of operation arises chiefly from the construction employed, but is also due to the fact that the material is moved downward through the apparatus during the entire operation, and that its gravity facilitates such movement instead of resisting the same.

It is immaterial what means be used to connect the different receptacles or to rotate them for dumping.

I am aware that cruciform casings containing closed trays of network have been mounted upon a wheel within a drying-oven; but in such construction the material is retained in the same receptacle throughout the whole drying operation, and not thrown from one to another, as in my invention.

It will be understood that the chief advantageof my invention lies in the arrangement of two or more troughs longitudinally around a common axis, so as to discharge the contents of the troughs intermittently by a partial rotation, and to receive a subsequent charge without turning the receptacle back to its initial position. I have therefore claimed herein such a construction of the receptacle for use in a series in the manner described above.

Having thus set forth my invention, what I claim is 1. In an apparatus for drying or otherwise treating material, a series of receptacles provided each with a series of open troughs arranged longitudinally around a common axis and adapted for receiving and discharging the contents of the troughs intermittently by a partial rotation, substantially as herein set forth.

2. Iii an apparatus for drying or otherwise treating material, a series of receptacles having each a partition forming longitudinal chambers or troughs at its adjacent sides, and cranks attached to the receptacles and united in one system to actuate the same intermittently, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In an apparatus for drying or otherwise treating material, the combination, with a suitable casing, of several series or tiers of receptacles consisting each in a number of open troughs or chambers arranged around a common axis, all the receptacles being separated from one another to permit the passage of treating-currents, and cranks connected with the several receptacles and united in one system for simultaneously tilting the re ceptacles to discharge the contents from one tier into another, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In an apparatus for drying or otherwise treating materials, the combination, with sev- IIO crank-pins and connected with a lever-arm to actuate the frame for simultaneously oscillating all the receptacles, substantially as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD M. COOK. lVitnesses:

THos. S. CRANE, L. LEE. 

